§ 831. Sale or promotional distribution of dietary supplements
containing ephedra. 1. No person, firm, corporation, partnership,
association, limited liability company, or other entity shall sell or
offer to sell or give away, as either a retail or wholesale promotion, a
dietary supplement containing any quantity of ephedra within New York
state, except as authorized by subdivision three of this section.

2. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(a) "dietary supplement" means (1) a product (other than tobacco) that
is intended to supplement the diet and that bears or contains one or
more of the following dietary ingredients: a vitamin, a mineral, an herb
or other botanical, an amino acid, a dietary substance for the use by a
person to supplement the diet by increasing the total daily intake, or a
concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combinations of these
ingredients; (2) intended for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet, or
liquid form; and (3) labeled as a "dietary supplement" pursuant to the
federal Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, 21 U.S.C. 321, as
amended.

(b) "ephedra" means any natural or synthetic form of ephedrine and
ephedrine alkaloids.

3. (a) Nothing in this section shall apply to nonprescription
over-the-counter drugs approved or regulated by the Food and Drug
Administration.

(b) This section shall not apply to ma huang (ephedra sinica) sold or
dispensed by any practitioner of oriental medicine, whose qualification
to use ma huang and other herbs is explicitly established via evidence
of an active certification issued to such individual from an entity
accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and
who is not otherwise required to be licensed by the state of New York,
or any physician or any practitioner of acupuncture licensed by the
state of New York as long as it is not sold or dispensed as a dietary
supplement for weight loss, for body building, or as an "energy food".

4. Any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, limited
liability company, or other entity that violates the provisions of this
section by selling, offering to sell, or giving away as either a retail
or wholesale promotion, a dietary supplement containing any quantity of
ephedrine alkaloids shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than
five hundred dollars per violation, recoverable in an action by any
enforcement authority designated by any municipality or political
subdivision.

5. It shall be a defense that any person, firm, corporation,
partnership, association, limited liability company, or other entity
that sold, offered for sale, or gave away as either a retail or
wholesale promotion a dietary supplement, did not have knowledge that
the supplement contained any quantity of ephedrine alkaloids, if such
knowledge was not reasonably discoverable.